By
Matthew Kay

Ten years ago, when a group of disillusioned French journalists decided to quit their jobs and start their own independent website, industry watchers were skeptical, as Matthew Kay reports.

They said the public would never pay for news in the age of free information - and their project would fail.

But a decade later Mediapart has become an industry leader - consistently setting the news agenda in France.

Their investigations have unearthed corruption at the heart of French industry, led to the fraud conviction of a former socialist minister and seen ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy place under criminal investigation.

And if that wasn't enough, the website is turns a profit - unique in age of free online news.